Sheppard West station

Sheppard West (formerly Downsview) is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station, which is located near the intersection of Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road, opened in 1996 in what was then the City of North York, and the commuter parking lot opened in July 2005. It was the northwestern terminus of the line for over two decades, until the opening of the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension on December 17, 2017.

When this station opened, it was among the first accessible stations of the Toronto subway system, and the first to be purpose-built as such. The station also features Wi-Fi service.

History
Sheppard West station (then named Downsview) was opened in 1996 as a one-stop extension north of Wilson station. The reason for such a short extension was that the provincial government was offering funds for subway expansion as part of the Network 2011 plan, but was debating whether the extension should form a link between the Spadina line and a future phase of the proposed Sheppard Line (which was only approved with a western terminus at the-then Sheppard station on the Yonge line), or continue further north, either to York University or as part of a loop to join the Spadina and Yonge line branches along the hydro corridor north of Finch Avenue. As an eventual Spadina line extension was later contemplated in any case, the short extension was built with the station constructed on a north–south alignment which favoured a further northward extension.

Construction of an access track to Wilson Yard branching off the mainline south of station began in 2009 but was mothballed after a tunnel was completed in 2010. Track was not laid and the tunnel was sealed off with hoarding. However, the tunnel was put into service in 2018 after completion of an ongoing expansion project to expand the Wilson Yard.

Concurrent with the opening of an extension on December 17, 2017, this station became one of the first eight stations to discontinue sales of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and tickets), previously available at a fare collector booth. Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds onto them. On May 3, 2019, this station became one of the first ten stations to sell Presto tickets via Presto vending machines.

Name
Originally, the TTC named the station Downsview due to its intended role as a transfer point for Line 4 Sheppard, which was planned to extend west of Yonge Street and intersect with the western segment of Line 1. Downsview was the winning entry in a public naming competition. Another name considered was Wilson Heights.

On May 7, 2017, the station was renamed Sheppard West in preparation for the opening of the new Downsview Park station later that year. The TTC believed that the name Downsview did not accurately reflect the station's location and would lead commuters to believe that Downsview Park was easily accessible from the station, when in fact the upcoming northern station would be a better option for accessing the park. The name change cost $800,000, with most of the funds going towards the reconfiguration of the Toronto Rocket subway trains' automated announcement system and destination signs, which was already required for the subway extension. Of this amount, $150,000 was used for updating signs and maps on TTC vehicles and properties.

Prior to the name change, Downsview was the only station in the system to have its name displayed in mixed-case lettering on the platform walls. The new name is rendered in uppercase lettering, using the traditional Toronto Subway typeface, on placards that obscure the old name. Smaller text at the bottom acknowledges the station's previous name.

Architecture and art
The station was designed by Adamson Associates Architects (above grade buildings and mezzanine) and The Stevens Group Architects (below grade). The subway platform lacks pillars and the ceiling is high and curved, evoking an aircraft hangar. High ceilings, skylights and an exceptionally large mezzanine make the station feel open and airy. Natural light reaches all areas of the station including the subway platform. The offset, glassed-in access walkway above the platform overlooks it and gives passengers views of passing trains below. Originally, the walkway was divided by a sinuous barrier as it ran through both the fare-paid and unpaid areas, with the unpaid half leading from an entrance at the north end of the station to the main fare concourse. The barrier was removed after this entrance had Presto card paddle fare gates installed in 2017. As a result, the north side entrance to the station is now a fully automated entrance and is only accessible to those using Presto.

The station features two pieces of artwork:
 * Sliding Pi is a large scale wall mosaic by Calgary artist Arlene Stamp. It can be viewed when travelling between the bus platform and the mezzanine level. The work shows colourful overlapping rectangles with the amount of overlap mathematically determined by the digits in the number pi. The overlapping pattern is non-repeating and gives the impression to viewers that the rectangles are sliding to one side.
 * Boney Bus, created by John McKinnon in 2000, is located in front of the station and consists of an abstract bus shape made from aluminum beams with basalt "wheels".

Nearby landmarks
Nearby landmarks include Downsview Park, which was the site of the World Youth Day Papal Visit in 2002 and the SARSstock concert in 2003. It is the site of an airstrip once used by a military base (CFB Toronto), and by an aircraft manufacturer (DeHavilland), separating the station area from the original village of Downsview. William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute lies to the northeast in the Bathurst Manor neighbourhood.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
The subway platform is located underground east of Allen Road. There is a complex crossover just south of the station, which incorporates a switch to a single track which branches off to the west in a tunnel to access Wilson Yard. The line continues underground for 750 m and crosses to the west side of the road; after exiting at the Clanton Park Portal, the line runs on the surface past Wilson Yard and passes the original north access track to it. South of this point, the line partially uses what were originally the non-revenue yard access tracks north of Wilson, the previous terminal station. North of the station, the line turns sharply northwest to cross under Allen Road again, then leaves Allen Road's alignment and heads via a compound curve toward Downsview Park station. Immediately north of the station, there is a trackless third tunnel between the service tunnels, built when the station was a terminus to accommodate a potential third tail track, but which may now be used to house a potential pocket track.

Surface connections


Several TTC routes serve the station, as does one York Region Transit (YRT) route. For YRT bus riders, disembarking is done on-street outside the station as additional fares are required when transferring between YRT and the TTC.

Proposed Line 4 extension
The original plans for Line 4 Sheppard called for it to terminate at this station (then Downsview) and connect there with Line 1, but during construction in the late 1990s, the extension of Line 4 was halted after the first phase due to funding issues. Plans to extend Line 4 are currently inactive, but some local politicians (such as former Toronto mayor Rob Ford) have tried to revive the Line 4 expansion.